


skylark

by ninata



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 - 三田誠 | Lord El-Melloi II Case Files - Sanda Makoto
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Mutual Pining, Pining, Tea Parties, Unresolved Romantic Tension, ambiguous timeline, girls night girls night girls night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21592387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninata/pseuds/ninata
Summary: Reines waxes poetic about Gray's hands.
Relationships: Gray/Reines El-Melloi Archisorte
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41





	skylark

**Author's Note:**

> no warnings! this is probably one of the most easy to digest fics i've written. no spoilers either. enjoy!

Her fingers trace the rim of the saucer. Reines pours her a teacup full of darjeeling, knowing any explanation on the history of the drink would be completely lost. She wasn't a lecturer, anyway. Reines firmly declares to herself that she isn't going to be too influenced by that miserable older brother of hers, but she'd be lying if the habit of over-explaining everything wasn't rubbing off on her.

Was it for better or worse? A dainty, pale hand pinches the handle of the teacup, cradles with the other. Gray doesn't recoil at the heat of the drink, taking a sip with decadence. Reines watches, if only because she's entranced by something ordinary about the whole scene. She knows it isn't right to find beauty in that face Gray despises so much, but truly, it was one with all too much.

"Do you like it?"

It comes out in a soft breath, like the steam rising from Reines's own cup. Gray's eyelashes shade her eyes as she looks down at the amber fluid, then fade out of view as those stunning blues meet her own. Reines had always thought of her own eyes as deep and fascinating; Mystic Eyes were like that, after all; but Gray's had an unnatural quality of mystery that Reines couldn't shake, whether it meant the mystery mages relied on for their magecraft's success or simple fancy.

"It's, um…" Gray sets the cup down. Reines is fascinated by those hands, following them as they break away from the porcelain and fold on top of the tablecloth. "It's...tea?"

Reines lets out a laugh. "Oh, that's good! It is, isn't it?" She grins ear to ear, swinging her leg back over the other as she leans back in her chair. "Is it too bitter for you? I know I said today we were going to have a tea party, but there's no point in forcing you to drink black teas if you won't enjoy them."

"Is that alright?" Gray says carefully, gently. "I don't want to be rude to the tea…"

"I'd ask if that older brother of mine is poisoning your mind with manners you don't need, but…"

Her mind conjures an image of Lord El-Melloi II dumping whole milk and honey into every tea he drinks. She snorts.

"No, I simply felt…" There's a clink of porcelain as Gray pours milk into her tea. "If it was with you, Miss Reines, it'd be appropriate to give the tea the proper respect…"

Something about that is deeply embarrassing. Reines, who hates being caught unawares, stews for a moment in that, her expression measured and neutral, giving no sign of the stake it drives into her heart.

"It's just tea." Reines says. "Though, if you'd like to take extra care around me, I won't be offended."

In convenient timing, Trimmau brings over a tray of scones. Reines gives her a look of approval.

"Mistress, some scones?"

"Of course, Trimmau. Thank you."

"Yeet." Trimmau sets the plate on the table with the grace she normally carries while Reines stares in abrupt distaste.

"What has Flat been teaching you…?" She asks under her breath, though Gray doesn't hear it, and Trimmau doesn't acknowledge it. The mercury maid takes her leave, as though the strange word never entered their ears.

With that over with, she nudges them towards Gray.

"Eat as many as you like." Reines urges, and Gray nods, plucking one from the plate and tearing off a chunk to spread cream onto.

Inviting Gray to the El-Melloi mansion, of course, was a bit of a gamble. Reines didn't want to overenthuse her, and she didn't want to invite any unsavory attention from the other members of the family, let alone other nobility. But the huge house was, to her private admission, incredibly lonely, and it could use the presence of such a lovely lady.

Cursing herself for thinking that particular string of words, Reines rests her arm on her armrest, as its name dictates. Did she really just invite Gray over to lighten up the scenery? Of course not.  _ Be more honest.  _ Comes a grating, deep voice in her mind, like some kind of hypocritical conscience.  _ You're never going to get anywhere if you don't at least admit it to yourself, Reines. _

Her heart bumps uselessly around in her ribcage. _ Whatever, big brother. Aren't you the one who lives a lie all the time, anyway? _

"Um...Miss Reines?"

Reines jolts a bit, though not visibly. Her eyes had been resting on those hands, but now drift back to Gray's face, shadowed by her hood.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?"

Reines shrugs. She can eat scones here whenever she wants. She can drink a whole pot of darjeeling, or any other chai, or jasmine, or lady grey, whichever she pleases. That isn't what she wants, she thinks in mild frustration.

"Or maybe there's something on my hands...?"

"No, there isn't. I…" Reines fumbles for once, biting the inside of her cheek. "Do you use lotion?"

"No…" Gray blinks a few times, looking at her hands.

"Here, let me see them."

Boldly, she leans over, taking Gray's hands in her own at the other's behest. Gray doesn't pull away; that's good. Perhaps they had truly become close in that way. That was good, Reines thinks, her heartbeat loud in her ears.

"Oh."

They only looked soft, Reines realizes. Gray's hands were worn from magecraft and battle, and otherwise neglected. The planes in her palms had a bit of roughness to them, hatched with white skin, giving way to the creases reluctantly. They fit Gray perfectly; a little homely, but wonderful hands, hands that had fought too many times to save that stupid older brother of Reines's, but more than that, the people he sought to help as well, and his other students.

Gray, in a way, was much stronger than the Lord taking Reines's place was; not just by matter of innate skill in magecraft. While Lord El-Melloi II easily threw himself in danger's way to protect people around him, it was Gray who stuck her heels in the ground, steeled herself, and readied her scythe.

Gray, no matter how soft spoken and gentle she seemed, was someone who could fight for another person's sake; who could fight for her own sake. She was starkly different from any mage Reines had met, and that was owed to the fact Gray wasn't even  _ really  _ a mage.

...Was that why Reines liked her so much? Because she wasn't the stiff, stuffy type Reines had grown up around? It could be. To anyone else, this would seem like a meaningless sentiment, but Gray truly was her own person. More than anything, Gray was Gray, and Gray was someone admirable. Strong-willed and courageous, kind and sweet. Wryly, Reines thinks to herself that no tea, coffee or wine could compare in complexity. What was she, some kind of shoddy poet? It's a good thing no one can hear her think.

Gray makes a quiet noise, like she may be clearing her throat. Though there's a bit of distance between them, Reines feels suddenly as if nothing separates them. None of the status of class, nor any boundaries Reines sets between herself and other people. Their eyes meet, and time stretches thin.

How had Reines come to feel this way about another girl? Her chest feels painful, full of sharp edges. They press against the confines of her skin, burn like fire. All through it is the steady, fast pumping of her heart, tired and true, uselessly slugging along as if the pain could never stop it.

Enchanted, or perhaps caught in a spell, Reines is unprepared for Gray's smile. Gray smiles at her with an earnestness Reines is unused to. Her lips draw apart, and Reines is about to speak when Trimmau barges in.

"Mistress, phone for you." She says unceremoniously. Reines tears her hands from Gray's in shame, though Trimmau probably wasn't even capable of judging her for such a display of affection.

"R-Right." Reines says, hopping to her feet. "I'll be right there. Gray, don't wait up for me; go ahead and eat when the food is ready."

"Ah...alright." Gray's face is hard to see, but her cheeks are a rosy color. "Take your time."

Reines curses whatever phone call has come in, her heels clicking against the wood floor as she heads towards her study.

On the day she musters up even an eighth worth of Gray's courage, she'll tell her plainly that she wants Gray to be hers.

**Author's Note:**

> i realized i was the only one in the tag and felt like a fucking criminal because it was just in a passing mention of them being wives in my other fic and i was like oh god oh shit oh god *RUNS STRAIGHT INTO TRAFFIC*  
> i'm really not confident in writing women but i hope..this was good! i love them intensely and i love makoto sanda for handing me such well done female characters. and such a strong romantically coded relationship too!!!! i eat it up gratefully. thank you sir for the delicious meal  
> thanks as always for the read!!!


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